South African Airways (SAA) is undergoing a management restructuring, as part of its move towards privatisation.
Talks have been under way for several weeks between SAA, its parent company, Transnet, and the trade unions, which are understood to have produced broad agreement on the main issues involved. "The trade unions are now developing a plan from their side-it looks like three to four weeks before we have a decision," says the airline.
SAA says that the Government is now saying publicly that SAA must have a strategic partner in place before the end of the year and that the Government supports the privatisation of the airline - which it owns through Transnet.
Meanwhile, the issue of SAA's proposed Boeing 777 fleet acquisition remains largely unresolved. The 777s had originally been due for delivery from April 1997, and the delay has affected the airline's route development and schedules, forcing it to seek interim capacity.
An ex-SAA Boeing 747SP (ZS-SPB) which was sold several years ago for corporate use, will be re-introduced in July on a 15-month lease, until the delivery of two newly ordered 747-400s.
nUganda Airlines and Air Tanzania are to be merged into Alliance Air, following agreement by the respective governments to align themselves with the airline, in which SAA has a 40% holding. The deal, currently being discussed, is due to be finalised by the end of June. Alliance has a single 747SP leased from SAA, while each of the other two carriers operates two Boeing 737-200s and a Fokker F27.
A statement from the two governments says: "Measures should be taken to obtain optimum economic advantage by integrating the three airlines...before privatisation."
Besides SAA, Alliance's shareholders are Air Tanzania and Uganda Airlines (10% each), their respective governments (5% each) and private investors (30%).
Source: Flight International
